This study concerns the declaimed performance of recitative in early French opera. Because the dramatic use of the voice was crucial to the opera genre, this investigation begins with a survey of historical definitions of declamation. Once the topic has been described, the thesis proceeds to thoroughly study three treatises dealing with sung recitation: Bacilly's Remarques curieuses, Grimarest's Traité de recitatif, and Dubos' Reflexions critiques. Principles from these sources are then applied to representative scenes from the literature. The paper closes with a commentary on the relationship between spoken and sung delivery and on the development of different declamatory styles.

“The Art of Phrasing” is a chapter from Arban’s Complete Celebrated Method for the Cornet (published in 1864) that contains a selection of 150 melodies from Classical and early Romantic works. This section of Arban’s method was necessary for a new generation of cornet and trumpet players to learn melodic phrasing and style. A larger part of the trumpet solo repertoire was written for the clarino register or composed in fanfares due to the limitation of the valveless trumpet. The newly chromatic cornet grew to be a prominent solo instrument in symphonies and wind bands by the mid 19th century, and Arban's “Art of Phrasing” instructed players in musical style. Due to today’s vast number of musical genres, it is unlikely that present day students will be exposed to the melodies of “The Art of Phrasing.” With advancements in music streaming technology and with increased accessibility to countless recordings via the internet, trumpet players are able to access recordings of the melodies. However, there are errors and omissions in the chapter that prevents students from finding recordings with ease. This dissertation presents a new compilation of melodies organized by musical period from medieval to modern day, complete with proper title, …

The problem of absolute or positive pitch has been studied by a considerable number of researchers. This cannot be said, however, for the problem of the element of tempo, or the normal speed of the true beat in music. The reason for this probably lies in the fact that absolute pitch can be measured quite accurately, for it is dependent upon the anatomy and physiology of the ear. On the other hand, a means whereby the innate pulse in music can be externalized so as to be capable of exact expression and measure in number, presents a challenge to those interested in further investigation of this phenomenon.

A study of the historical development of the origins of ballet in Italy and France during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Specifically focuses on the ballet-comique de la reine and the ballet de cour.

This annotated translation of Chabanon's Musique considérée with accompanying analysis seeks to establish the aesthetic principles expressed in his book as a significant and independentdeparture from the musical doctrines which prevailed in eighteenth-century France.

A comprehensive study of all nineteenth-century New Orleans composers is far beyond the scope of this paper. There are simply too many. An attempt has been made, however, to include as many possible in the text. Others, about whom there is insufficient information to include in a narrative, have been relegated to the appendix, where they are treated in the style of a biographical dictionary. The two most important and influential composers of the century, Gregorion Curto and Theodore von La Hache, are covered individually in chapters two and three, respectively. Their music represents all three of the important aspects of composition of the era: opera, salon, and sacred music. Louis Moreau Gottschalk, probably the most famous composer and performer of the period, has been omitted from this study (other than incidental references) because he has already received considerable attention from numerous other researchers. Likewise, another composer of note, Ernest Guiraud, has been omitted because, even though a native of New Orleans, he left America at an early age and never returned. He should more appropriately be considered in annals of French music. Research in this field, a vital part of the American musical heritage, is by no means complete. …

This thesis is about the self-identity of antebellum New Orleans's free people of color. The emphasis of this work is that French culture, mixed Gallic and African ancestry, and freedom from slavery served as the three keys to the identity of this class of people. Taken together, these three factors separated the free people of color from the other major groups residing in New Orleans - Anglo-Americans, white Creoles and black slaves. The introduction provides an overview of the topic and states the need for this study. Chapter 1 provides a look at New Orleans from the perspective of the free people of color. Chapter 2 investigates the slaveownership of these people. Chapter 3 examines the published literature of the free people of color. The conclusion summarizes the significance found in the preceding three chapters and puts their findings into a broader interpretive framework.

Francis Poulenc's one-character opera La Voix humaine (1958), a setting of the homonymous play by Jean Cocteau, explores the psychological complexities of an unnamed woman as she experiences the end of a romantic relationship. During the forty-minute work, she sings in a declamatory manner into a telephone, which serves as a sign of the unrevealed man at the other end. Poulenc uses musical motives to underscore the woman's changing emotional states as she recalls her past relationship. The musical dramaturgy in this work resignifies Debussy's impressionist symbolism by collapsing devices used in Pelléas et Mélisande in a language that shifts between octatonicism, chromaticism, harmonic and melodic whole tone passages, and diatonicism. This late work recontextualizes elements in Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites (1953-56), and the end of the opera provides a theme for his Sonate pour Clarinet et Piano(1962), as Poulenc reflects on his youthful encounters with Cocteau, Erik Satie, and Les Six.

The purpose of this thesis is to show through the presentation and analysis of authoritative information, and opinions drawn from the information and analysis, the development of violin technique from its basic rudiments as an accompanying instrument to the plane of a brilliant solo instrument, a position it still maintains today. This thesis aims to deal exclusively with the technical evolution of the violin. Many books on the history of the violin have been written, but none have dealt exclusively with the technical evolution of this instrument, and it is hoped that the materials in this thesis will constitute a contribution to this field.

The tragedie en musique of Quinault and Lully was a highly successful new genre, representative of contemporary Parisian life. However, it is still largely viewed in the negative terms of its detractors, the proponents of classical tragedy. The purpose of this study is to redefine the tragedie en musique in terms of seventeenth-century modernism. An examination of the society and poetry of the contemporary gallant world provides the historical framework for an analysis of both the libretto and music of Quinault and Lully's Atys (1676). This study attempts to bridge the historical and cultural distances that until now have hindered accessibility to this major new genre in seventeenth-century literature and music.

The purpose of this investigation is to examine Reichardt's reasons for his development of the genre Liederspiel. A brief biographical sketch of Reichardt reveals an innovative character who was responsible for several developments within the history of music. The Liederspiel was particularly affected by the French vaudeville. However, an investigation into the character of each shows that they are really quite different. A translation of an article by Reichardt from the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitun discloses the purpose of the composer in his presentation of the Liederspiel to the public. The first Liederspiel was Liebe und Treue and was a complete success. The libretto and piano vocal score shows the construction of liebe und Treueand an English translation aids in its understanding.

This study is concerned with Michael Corrette (1709-1795) and his contribution to music pedagogy through seven of his extant string instrument treatises. Besides the translations from French into English, the dissertation includes an extensive commentary corroborating his information with ideas of other noteworthy, predominantly-French string writers of the period.

In this study the choral-orchestral compositions produced by Hector Berlioz are examined in detail for characteristics of musical form, textual setting, and methods of scoring for chorus and orchestra. Reasons for the preponderance of the choral-orchestral medium in Berlioz' output are examined in two introductory chapters. The initial chapter concerns Berlioz' personal experiences as an observer, conductor, and critic of choral music, while the second is devoted to Parisian customs in regard to the choral-orchestral medium during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Included in the historical chapter is a discussion of the haute-contre (high tenor or countertenor) voice preferred in French choruses of that period plus a short review of French orchestral practices, operatic choruses, the French Chapel, Parisian concert societies, and the Paris Conservatory. Especially important is the segment on revolutionary musical fetes which fostered grandiose compositions for chorus and instruments of extremely simple structure. Berlioz' sense of form was governed by his Gallic heritage and for this reason many critics have accused him of formlessness, when in fact his compositions invaribly revolve around a succinct formal plan, admirably executed. Berlioz added to the conservative French tradition which favored the strophe and the Rondeau (an unvarying refrain following …